Universal Leads the Carbon Battle

Universal Leads the Carbon Battle

Article excerpt

A Building Society has become the first financial organisation to sign up to a North-East scheme to cut carbon dioxide emissions.

The Universal Building Society has joined the CarbonNeutral Newcastle campaign.

The society, based in Kings Manor, Newcastle, has nine branches in the region and employs 165 staff.

Figures released yesterday by the Carbon Trust show Newcastle produces 806,335 tonnes of carbon a year: 2,209 tonnes a day.

More than a quarter of that is produced by local businesses.

CarbonNeutral Newcastle provides advice to help reduce energy use and save money.

The scheme also looks to tackle climate change by using power from renewable sources and planting trees to absorb carbon.

Universal chief executive Kevin Robinson said: "We are determined to do our bit to put the brakes on global warming by joining forces with such a worthwhile charity.

"This initiative will encourage all employees to think about ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and help them to take no-cost actions that should enable our society to declare itself carbon neutral. …